Raijinken: The Present
by Wind Kaizer
Summary: Death isn't always a permanent as it seems...especially to a demi-god.
1. Here We Go Again

Raijinken: The Present

Chapter 1: Here We Go…Again

_Outside of_ _Richmond, VA_

_2-fuckin'-am_

*Ring.*

(Who the hell is calling me so damn early?) I groaned as I rolled over in my bed, groping for the phone on the dresser beside it. Didn't really bother to check the caller ID.

Couldn't have cared less about who it was if I did.

"Who are you, and do you want to die." My voice was scratchy from sleep, but still held that tenor quality.

The person on the other end giggled. "Such a nice person, aren't you?"

Raiden. My teacher/friend/pervert/all-around-bastard. He's lucky he's, you know, him. Or else he would be a fried piled of ash, wherever he and Fujin are right now.

"What the hell do you want old man?"

"I'm not old, fool."

I lay back down on my pillow, phone still to my ear. "Sure you aren't."

"Whatever. Listen-"

"Raiden," I paused to yawn. "The last time I listened to you, the Black Plague happened."

"Shut up. Anyway," I could hear keys tapping in the background. "I think we've gotta lock on the power signal."

I shot up in bed, fully awake. "Where is he?"

Perhaps I should explain why I said 'he' instead of 'they'. See, for some reason, our powers only go to men. This is good for me, since I really have a problem with women. (Hera issues. Hate that bitch.)

It's also why I stay with men in my bed. No fish for me!

"Somewhere in the city, and, if I'm right, probably a college student, since that is how old the rest of you look. Perhaps at VCU?"

"Maybe…" I shot over to my laptop on the other side of the room. Holding the phone up with my shoulder, I swiftly moved my hands over the key board. Hacking into the database for the school, I swiftly added our names into the roster.

I didn't worry about someone finding out that we didn't pay for enrollment. Put up a firewall just incase anyone tried to check.

"We're in. We start next semester."

"Do well in school!"

"Go to hell Raiden."

"See you there. Bye."

"Say hi to Fujin for me."

"Will do." He hung up, leaving only the dial tone to keep me company.

I wish I could go back to sleep, but there was no way that I'll be able to. Too excited.

Guess it's time for everyone to get the hell up then.

And I can do this all from the comfort of my own room!

Lighting rocks.

I moved over to the corner of my room, the only outlet where nothing was plugged in. Placing my hand over it, I sent a spark of lightning down my arms.

The lights started to flicker, quickly intensifying to an almost blinding quality without being overloaded.

Of course I had to wait though.

3…2…1

"RAI!"

Right on schedule.

Okay, here's the great part about living in a mansion:

Lot's of places to hide when someone is out to maim you. Which happens to be a lot in my case.

I quickly ran out of the room, which is extremely fast considering I move the speed of almost light.

Not light itself.

_Almost._

Back to the matter at hand.

"RAI, I SWEAR IF I FIND YOU…!"

Hmmm…sounds like King, our lion and resident fire starter.

As I sped around the corner, I felt a sharp heat rush over my back. I swerved around, coming to a halt.

Only to see a hole with scorch marks around it in the wall.

"I'm not cleaning that up."

I turned around preparing to launch off again…

Only to run right into a wall and end up flat on my ass.

Wait…

There's no wall in the middle of the hallway.

I think

"Rai."

I look up at the brick shithouse standing in front of me.

"Oh…hey D. Wat's up?"

Ah D, the darkness man, spirit of the mountain lion. He has dark skin, is sometimes scary as all hell, and tall, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way he acts around his opposite and husband, the light user Ray. Found them both in a Mayan temple, about to be sacrificed or…something. I don't know. The Mayans were a tad bit upset though, tried to kill us too. As you can see, we're still here though, and they're not.

And he always is able to sneak up on me, which I'm still not really sure how that happens.

Oh right, I should mention this before I forget. Our powers need a balance

He sighed. "Rai, what is the meaning of this?" His voice also had a very deep quality to it. Sexy deep, not scary deep.

I got up, gripping the big man's night shirt happy as all hell. "Raiden thinks he found him!"

D raised an eyebrow, "Does he now?"

Apparently, I don't understand sarcasm. "Yes! Yes he does!"

"And it couldn't have waited until the morning?"

"What do you care? You like the dark."

His dark eyes became almost pitch black, showing off his aggravation "Yes, I do." I shrunk, just a little bit. Man is scary; I'll be the first to admit that. "But I also like my sleep. Just in case you haven't noticed, I've been gone for the past two days hunting a demon."

"Oh believe me." I muttered under my breath. "I noticed. You two were extremely loud, you know.."

Before he could respond to that (luckily for me because I might be knocked out in the forest somewhere two seconds from now) a hand grabbed D's shoulder.

The hand belonged to his lover, Ray, the light bringer and cheetah.

Weird thing is, even though we found the two of them in almost the same place, Ray's pigment is more along the lines of a vanilla frappaucino.

Sorry, can't help it.

I just like coffee.

"D," His voice was light. Nowhere near feminine, just light. Like a high tenor or something. A good comparison to his significant other. "Leave him alone. I'm sure he didn't mean to aggravate us by waking us up in the middle of the night," He looked at me. "Did you Rai?"

Okay, usually I would have said something along the lines of, 'Of course I did!'.

Fortunately, I like life.

What I actually said was: "Sorry, I just got really excited, and-" I paused. "Did it just get warmer?"

Damn, forgot all about King.

Maybe I should elaborate on who I call, 'The Literally Hot Asian'. I met the man after Cronos more or less 'created' him and his partner/opposite, Kai, the water spirit and tiger. I mean, in that last battle, Cronos did turn them against me, causing me to go practically insane and rip my grandfather to shreds. They do still feel sort of guilty for not being able to fight back against Cronos' control, but I've forgiven them.

The fact that he's a lion doesn't affect his personality too mush either.

…That is a lie by the way.

Luckily, afterwards they, Hermes, and Aries (hey, he may be the god of war, but family comes first. Of course he's going to care about me!) Somehow got me under control, keeping the chimera's powers from fully taking control.

King rounded the corner, a ball of fire swirling angrily in his palm.

O-ho-ho.

Not good.

"Now King…" I started, bringing my hands up. "Hold on."

He came at me, pushing me against the wall. He held the fire in my face.

"What the hell is up with you." It wasn't a question. "It's three a.m., and I'm trying to sleep. What. The hell. Do you want."

I was sweating buckets, so I had to tread carefully here. "We, uh…" His glare grew fierce, well…an 'er' should be added to the end of that. "We found him."

It took him a moment to figure out exactly who 'he' was. But when he got it, he nodded, extinguishing the flame in his palm.

"Okay…and why couldn't this have waited until the morning? When people are actually awake?"

I wiggled out of his grasp, quickly moving behind the largest object in the hallway, in this case D.

"Okay, one: technically, we aren't exactly people. Two: excitement is a powerful thing. Can't help it sometimes."

A voice came from behind us. "Yeah, it doesn't help that you're usually on a permanent sugar high."

I turned around.

"Oh shut up, Zeph. You too Aaer."

Oh right, Zephyr and Aaer. These two bastards. Okay, well, Zephyr is the wind machine and cougar, and Aaer is our clock and saber tooth tiger.

I that enough for you?

No?

Damn ya'll some needy people.

Okay, um…

Well, Zeph sort of got his powers from.

Screw that. He _did_ get his powers from me.

I blame the chimera.


	2. Mondays, Demons, and Stupidity

Chapter 2:

Mondays, Demons, and Stupidity

_Monday, 3'am_

_God damnit_

"Okay," I arrived in the basement, rubbing my eyes. It was dark down here, but the cat in me had no problems seeing the randomly strewn things on the earthen floor. "Where and what is it this time?"

Zephyr's fingers moved swiftly across the keyboard, figures appearing swiftly on the large screen in front of him.

Guy is almost as good as I am.

"Well…"He looked up as a grid of the world. A red blip appeared somewhere in the northern part of the US. It expanded, showing us the exact location.

"Aw damnit, why there?"

Of course it's New York City.

I sighed. "Okay, what does the energy signature tell us?"

Aare spun in the chair in front of the smaller monitor to the side of the big one. "Looks like…a Reaper."

Crap.

Okay, if you haven't figured it out by now, Reaper's are given their name for a reason, mainly because they look like the Grim Reaper, which is weird because he's actually a pretty cool guy when you get to know him. Just don't let him touch you. You know, 'Touch of Death' and all that good jazz.

But I digress.

These guys are extremely creepy. You know those Dementor things from Harry Potter? Okay, now picture those with really sharp scythes bent of killing and eating the soul of whomever crosses their path. Plus, they always travel in packs of six or more.

Yeah…not fun.

"Well…" I stretched, pulling my arms back until I heard a crack. "Might as well get going." I turned around, heading towards the basement exit.

"Rai…" I turn back, raising an eyebrow. "Don't do anything stupid."

"Oh come on. Have I ever done any-?"

"Rai." Zeph started.

A pause.

"Okay, there was that one time with the Tower of Pisa…sorry, _Leaning_ Tower of Pisa. But that wasn't my fault…mostly."

"But it was your fault." Aare cut in.

A pause…again.

"Shut up." I moved out of the basement room. "Later bitches!"

I made my way down the hallway, catching a ride on the elevator as it opens.

Upstairs, it's silent, and dark. Everyone must have gone back to bed.

"Lucky bastards." I whisper as I make my way back to my room.

Inside, I open the doors to my large walk-in closet.

And when I say large, buddy, I mean LARGE.

"Now what to wear…"

I move in, walking and searching through the various outfits, all organized by style of course.

"Sweat suit."

(Fashion tip, kiddies! Never wear good clothes while fighting demons. It could get messy.)

Changing out of my shorts and t-shirt, I grabbed a black one with purple trim, and plain black shoes. I flip my long white hair to the side as it gets in the way of tying the strings.

Or 'night gear', as I like to call it.

Leaving my room, I head down the hall 'til I get to the grand staircase leading downstairs to the living room and kitchen.

Heading to the table beside door, I grab an ear piece. It's light…no battery.

Doesn't matter, of course.

I clip it onto my ear, sending a small charge to the communicator.

"Can you guys hear me?" I said as I made my way out of the large oak doors to the walkway in the front yard.

"Yeah." I hear Aare's voice in my ear.

I look to the north, towards the direction of NYC.

I jumped off of the ground, floating as I got ready to take off towards the city.

"Which part of the city are they in?"

I hear the click-clack of typing going on in the background before Aare cut back in.

"Chelsea."

Oh, not good. I look at my cell, pressing the button on the side.

2:45.

Shit.

"I'm already half-way there."

In a streak of purple light, I arrived in less than half-an hour. Simultaneously, the screams hit my ears, causing me to flinch.

People asleep in Chelsea at 3:00 AM? Of course not!

And this is why demons attack dumb asses!

Great job people, great job.

"_Get off of him!"_

It was a man's voice, coming from an alley to the left of me.

I flew to the roof directly above the alley. I saw the demon levitating above a man, a stream of white going from the victims mouth to its, the color draining from the man's face. To the side of them, another man, held to the wall by the scythe entrapping his neck.

I searched around for any of the other Reaper's, but I don't see any.

It was strange, but I choose not to dwell on this for too long. I have other pressing business.

"Lightning Bow." I murmur.

Bringing my hands together, I send a powerful burst of energy to my palms. Separating them, an arch forms; shaping itself into a bow. My hands fall to my side as the weapon straightens itself vertically.

I grip the bow, extinguishing the glow. It's solid elm; strong but flexible.

Perfect.

I sent a charge through my arm, forming a string. My other hand comes up, sparking. I notch it on the thread, forming an arrow.

It's was easy from there on out.

I took aim and fired down into the alley, the arrow too fast for the human eye to see.

A shriek tore from the demons…mouth? Opening? Place of which the souls of innocent dumb asses are eaten?

Ah, you get the picture.

It disappeared in a flash of light, it's scythe going with it and dropping the man to the ground. He ran over to the dying man and cradled him in his arms.

"Alan? Alan! Wake up! Oh God, somebody help me!"

Well, here's a dilemma.

Either reveal myself and help these people, most likely sending people of a sort of which I do not want to deal with after me, which I do not want; or depart and leave this 'Alan' to die.

Ah what to do…

Hmmm…

I dropped to the asphalt.

The man holding Alan up jumped back, gripping him hard to his chest.

"Who-what are you?" The man stuttered.

I waved my hand to brush him off. "Don't worry about it. I'm here to help."

"H-how do I know you're not here with those…things?"

If he had been able to see my face under the hood, he would have seen a raised eyebrow. I mean really: me in with them?

I'm too pretty for that.

"Oh, I don't know…the fact that I just saved your, and his, life? Dumbass. "I muttered the last part under my breath." Now let me help him."

"But…"

"He's dying. Let me help him."

The man, still wary, nodded. I came over and knelt beside them. Motioning for the man to lay him down on the ground, I held my hands over his heart.

No heartbeat.

Not good.

"I'm going to need you to move back."

The other man retreated, still within easy reach of Alan.

I waved my hands over his body, muttering words as I went. The chant got louder, a strong gust of wind picked up, whipping the dirt and debris around us into the air. A white cloud formed and swirled over our heads; the man's life force was returning to him. It circled down into his mouth, draining into him and returning the color to his face.

A sharp inhalation, followed by several coughs notified us to Alan's awakening.

I looked down, seeing his eyes open and focused on me. Blue was the color, and they were very pretty…but other than that they scared the hell out of me.

Pause…

"Uh…hi."

His voice was scratchy as he replied. "Who are you?"

"The man who just saved you." I jumped up, floating a few inches above the ground to the amazement of the two men.

"And I gotta go. Things to do, demons to kill…you know how it is. La-"

I stopped, swerving out of the way as a scythe went sailing by my head. Catching it, I turned around and threw back towards it owner. Hearing the Reaper catch and clutch it's weapon, I turned around, lightning sparking in my palm.

Ten of them…

Oh…

This will be fun.

I motioned behind me. "You two, get out of here."

I heard Alan and his friend leave the alley, muttering 'thank you' as they left.

Two of the reapers came at me, attempting to go after the men. I grabbed the end of their cloaks as they went by me; swinging them against the wall.

Drawing electricity into my palms, I blasted both of them un the face. Howling, they erupted into a cloud of dust.

Eight left.

"You know," I started, calling the bow back to me. "You guys really have no common sense. Small alley plus me equals non-fun time for you."

Electricity flew through the air as they rushed me.


	3. U Don't Know Me Like U Used To

Chapter 3:

U Don't Know Me

(Like U Used To)

…_Fifteen minutes later_

"Hey everybody!" I yelled as I walked through the front door. "I'm back!"

I heard a muffled "Damn." come from upstairs

I pouted. "Awww…you guys don't want me here?"

King's voice drifted from upstairs. "…Is that a rick question?"

"Shut up!" Kai yelled. He appeared from around the corner to stand at the top of the stairs. "How did it go?"

"Ahhh…" I pulled the hood down, releasing my hair from the restraint it was in. "Same ol'-same ol'. Reapers this time though."

Kai nodded slowly. "Any casualties?"

I shook my head, going up the stairs. "Nope, got there just in time." I turned and smiled at him. "You know me, always coming a the last minute. Shut up King."

"What?" He said with that 'o-so-innocent' tone of voice.

"You know."

I walked into my room, shutting the door behind me. Stripping out of my clothes, I made my way over to my bed.

I checked the clock. 5:42 A.M.

(I'll take a shower in the morning.) I yawned. (No one better come in here, or I swear, I'll kill someone.)

_That afternoon_, _VCU,_ _Richmond, VA_

"Ay yo! Terrance!"

I stood up, turning around from the gym bag I was packing. My friend, Alan, was running towards me.

"Hey man." I give him a high five when he got close enough to me. "What's up?"

"Nuthin' much. You going to the b-ball game tonight?"

I shrugged. "I don't know man, I got a lot of studying to do. Test in chem' tomorrow, y'know."

"Aw…come on man, you're a baseball player, you don't have to study! And you're our star pitcher? No one is going to make you fail. Besides, I got this girl comin' wit' me, and she bringin' her friend. I need you to keep her distracted while I make da moves on her friend, man. Come on!

Blank stare. "So, lemme get this straight; you want me to go with you to the game so you can get a girl to drop her panties for you. Durin' this time, you're gonna to make me spend time wit' some girl that I don't know, and who I probably won't like, just so you can get some?"

"Well, when you put it like that…"

I turned back towards my bag. "Well, then you know my answer. Later man, and good luck with this girl…what's her name?"

"Uh…Yolanda, or somethin' like that."

I shook my head, laughing slightly as I made my way out of the locker room.

You know, it's weird; you've spent all this time with me, and you really don't know me do you?

Name's Terrance Aboris. Yeah, I know; weird last name right? Apparently, I'm a descendent of someone from some country in the Mediterranean.

Anyway, as you heard from Allen, I'm our school's star pitcher on the baseball team. I'm even pretty good at bat with a .758 batting average. So pretty good? Yeah. I would say so myself. I've also been doing judo since I was a little kid, so kicking ass is never hard for me.

Grew up in this town, in the suburbs if you want to get technical with it. As for what I look like; 6'4, muscular (I was just at the gym, right?), tan skin, black hair, blue eyes. Let's see, anything else? Oh! Shoe size: 13.

We all know what that means, don't we people?

Big shoes.

Haha.

I crack me up.

But that's enough about me.

I made my way back to my suite dorm room, gettin' ready for a night of studying, when a loud noise erupts from my room.

Now, normally, you would think that I would be surprised by something like this happening.

Yeah…not so much.

My roommate, let's call him Ian, has some…issues. Dude likes to party.

A lot.

He's a rich kid from somewhere else in the country; I really don't know which part because the two of us never really talk. And for some reason, ol' boy thinks that he is better than most other people, so he has a real 'jerk complex' going on. Yet, for some reason, people still like to party with him.

Sometimes in our room.

Without me knowing about it…

No one better be in my room.

I put my key into the lock, throwing open the door as I make my way inside to the chaos that is my room.

Silence.

There are about 12 people in here, and it is completely silent.

What the hell?

I make my way to my room, staring at them out of the corner of my eye.

Something isn't right here.

These people were just loud as all hell not two seconds ago, and now they're quiet as field mice.

Creepy doesn't even begin to describe the sensation that I'm feeling.

I feel their eyes boring into my back as I make my way into my room. I quietly close the door behind me as I listen for any movement outside.

Still nothing. No whispered voices, no loud breathing, no subtle movements…

Nothing.

Now, being officially creeped out, I quickly found my chemistry book and made my way out of my dorm, careful to look straight ahead and not catch anyone's eye.

The music started as soon as I stepped out of the door, and voices soon accompanied it in an excited chatter. I exhaled, letting go of a breath that I had not realized I was holding.

I started walking to the library, thoughts going through my head about those people.

Hopefully, I can get concentrated on chemistry so I don't fail tomorrow.

_Basement of the Mansion_

"Hmmm…" Aare started as he looked at the map. A green light was blinking on the monitor before it disappeared.

Zephyr put the tool he was working with down. Coming to stand behind him, he leaned on the chair, searching the monitor for any disturbances.

"What's the matter?"

Aare shook his head. "It was nothing; I thought I saw something on the screen, but it might have just been the blowtorch you were using. It doesn't matter."

Zeph nodded. "Well, in that case; come on. I'm finally finished with the modifications." He pressed a button on the console, lifting the table behind him to stand up vertically.

Aare jumped out of the chair to stand in front of the table. "You think they're going to like it?"

Zeph came and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him towards his body. "Oh baby, trust me they're gonna love it." He motioned him towards the elevator. "Now come on; we've got some things to do…"

A smirk appeared on Aare's face. "Oh? What kind of 'things' do you have in mind?"

The elevator started as Zephyr spun him around, kissing him hard against the metal of the elevator wall. "Guess."

"I don't think I have to." He kissed him again as the elevator closed its doors.

_Upstairs_

"_**Come now child! You want to save him from me? From what you know that I will do to him?"**__ Malevolent laughter erupted from his mouth as he choked Zhenzi._

"_Let him go Cronos!" My fury was unimaginable. The ground around me was singed as lightning raced along the ground from my body._

"_**Let him go?" **__He chuckled__**. "No, I don't think I will."**_

_I couldn't risk attacking him, incase he ended up hurting the person who I wanted to protect._

_Cronos knew this._

"_**If you truly want him back, come and bow at my feet."**_

_I could not think of a way to get past him. I was fast, but I knew that my grandfather would just stop time and catch him._

_I had no choice._

_I slowly walked over to the elder god, withdrawing the lightning back into my body. I knelt in front of him, bowing my head._

_Cronos smiled wickedly. Kneeling down, he spoke in my ear. __**"Did you really think that I would let him go?"**_

_A beam of light shot from his finger, as a yell erupted from my throat._

"NO!!!" I jumped from the bedding surrounding me, sweat running down my face as the lights flickered dangerously before breaking.

"RAI!! What the hell?!" King burst into the room, pausing as he saw in the state I was in. "Rai…?"

"It was the dream again," Kai came from behind him. "Wasn't it?"

I nodded. I was shaking, barely able to see past the hair that was plastered to my forehead. Kai came to sit beside me.

He put his hand on my back. "Rai…we thought you gotten over this."

"I did too." I wasn't surprised at how weak my voice sounded. "But I guess that the idea of being so close to finding him again brought back the bad memories along with the good."

We were silent for a moment.

King was the first to speak. "Are you going to be okay Rai?"

I nodded again. "I'll be fine. You two go back to your room alright?" I could see that they weren't convinced. I waved them out. "Go! I'll be fine."

They stared at me for a moment, before sighing. "Alright." Kai conceded. "But call us if you need anything, okay?"

"Fine, fine. Now get the hell out! I wanna go back to sleep."

"OK." They left, closing the door behind them.

The slight smile dropped from my face. I was no where near OK.

I got up, ignoring the slight chill as the cold air hit my naked body. I went to the windowsill, sitting down as I stared into the stars.

A group of them looked like a constellation of his face.

God I miss him.


	4. Warning: Chemistry May Cause Explosions

Chapter 4:

Warning: Chemistry May Cause Explosions

_Rai's Room, Morning_

_**BOOM!!!**_

"I don't even wanna know."

_Downstairs…_

"WHAT THE FUCK ZEPH?!" King yelled beside the recently formed hole to the outside.

Pushing his goggles to rest on his forehead, he ran his fingers through his short hair. "Sorry 'bout that." He put the thing in his hand on the table beside him. "Thought I got all of the bugs out of this thing…" Moving the goggles back down, he grabbed the arc welder.

As the sparks started to fly, King moved to get a closer look at what the gun that almost just blasted him to the next county was. Unfazed by the white hot sparks hitting his skin, he asked, "What is that thing?"

Zeph stopped. "It's a magnifier." he put the arc welder down. Moving over to the super computer on the other side of the room, he placed the weapon on the scanner.

King followed him, staring in confusion at the screen as the schematics for the gun appeared. "What do you mean a 'magnifier'?"

Zephyr didn't look up from the keyboard he was rapidly typing into. "It magnifies our powers, of course." Looking up, he pointed at to a chamber on the gun. "We put a collection of energy here," He traced a path between the chamber, a crystal, and the nozzle. "The crystal amplifies and concentrates the energy, then releases it."

King nodded in appreciation. "Sweet…but what are you building this for?"

A mischievous smile slinked onto Zephyr's face. "Don't ask questions…"

"Just accept it. Yeah, yeah; I know." King mumbled as he headed back out the newly-formed door. "And you better find someway to fix this wall!"

Zeph smiled before picking up the phone.

_Dorms at VCU_

The light streamed through my blinds, waking me to the world outside…

I hate days where the outside doesn't feel like my inside.

I got in late last night, which is sort of stupid because I have a 9:00 A.M class, but at least I won't be failing that test today.

I slowly got up and stretched, catching myself as the world spun for a second. I went out into the hallway (in just my boxers, mind you) to the bathroom. Brushing my teeth (I take my showers at night), I quickly washed up and got dressed.

Grabbing my book bag, I made it to the kitchen, passing my roommates door on the way.

_Hmmm…I wonder if he's even here?_

Probably not. With all of those people at the party last night, he probably went home with at least one of them.

Hopefully.

I grabbed a banana on my way out of the door. I was making my way down the stairs when a voice called my name from behind me. I turned around to see Alan running towards me.

"Hey Alan." He stopped in front of me. "How did the date go last night?"

A frown marred his face. "How do you think?"

I turned slightly so he wouldn't see the smile on my face. "Awww…you didn't get any? Po' baby…"

"Damn right I didn't get any. And you know whose fault it is?" I had to swallow the laugh coming up my throat as I shrugged. "Yours and you know it. You couldn't have just came along and distracted her friend so I could have went home wit'…(insert name here because Alan can't remember it) girl."

"Cock-block?"

"Damn straight. I been tryin' so hard to get wit' this girl the past few weeks. And when I knew I was goin' to finally get between her legs, bam! Up comes the friend-chastity belt."

I stifled a laugh. "Chastity-belt? Really?"

"Well, what else would you call it? Girl had her friend on lockdown."

"Klink-Klink."

He punched my arm. "Shut up."

_The Mansion_

Ray, D, and Kai were in the kitchen eating breakfast as I plopped into a chair, laying my head on the counter.

"Hi." Kai started. "Welcome back to the living."

"How 'bout 'Welcome back to shut the fuck up?' Yeah, let's go with that." He threw a piece of cereal at me.

As the round, sugary crap rolled onto the floor, I heard D snort off to my side. "Well…" he said. "Someone seems pissy today."

"Shhh…" I whispered. "I'm debating on whether or not to go down and investigate that big explosion that happened earlier…or eat toast."

Ray saved me the trouble. "It was Zeph."

"Ah." Of course it was.

"He created a new weapon for us…"

New weapon? Ya-!

"…and it blew up in his face."

…never mind.

"So now we have a gigantic hole in the wall?"

"For the moment, yes. Zephyr already called Hephaestus." Ray, closely followed by D, walked out.

"Well then…" I moved to the fridge. "Forget it." Kai just shook his head.

_Bookstore near VCU_

You know how you can just tell a day is going to suck? Like _exponentially_ suck?

Today just _had _to be one of those days.

I'm a little upset right now because even though I made myself get up early for my class, it turned out to be canceled. Damn it.

So, after venting my anger in the form of many words that made people think I had turrets or something, I went to the book store across the street.

There was a girl in there that looked vaguely familiar, but I ignored her as I made my way to the sci-fi/fantasy isle.

I know that I've seen her somewhere before…

_Last night, at Ian's party in our room, girl sitting on the black haired guy's lap._

That whole staring at me bit last night. Ugh, I really didn't want to think about it, but there was an extremely weird vibe in that room. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see she was at the end of the isle, just standing there.

Staring.

Maybe I could lose her…no it wouldn't work out. The store might have been big, but it's pretty flat. Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty tall. She'll spot me too easily.

I've got to get outside.

I picked the book I wanted, and quickly make my way to the register. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the girl move with me. _Hmmm…_

I turned down the street. Bending down, I pretended to tie my shoe. She was still following me, and it seemed more people were with her now.

'Crap.' I whispered, looking around. There's a crowd down the street, maybe I could lose them there?

I got up, walking to the throng of people, quickly blending in (or so I hope) with them.

I looked over my shoulder, counting five people between me and them.

Perfect.

There's an alley off to my right.

_Got to get there._ I thought.

Swerving between the people in front of me, I ducked into the alley.

Dead end.

_SON OF A BITCH!_ I looked around frantically, noting that there wasn't much time before they got to me.

There's a fire escape at the end of the alley, and probably a minute before they get here.

I ran like hell.

Jumping up, I grabbed the lowest rung on the ladder. I scrambled to the top, running to the stairs beside it. I took a chance at a look down. There were five shadows at the start of the alley. I had to hurry to the top of the building.

Unfortunately, it was easier said than done, and it is really hard keeping quiet on these metal stairways. But, by some miracle, I did it.

I looked down from the roof, careful to keep most of my head out of the way. I saw the five of them, another girl with the one from the bookstore and three guys, looking for me. I sat down, praying that they don't get the idea to start climbing up here.

I looked down again, ready to move if needed.

The girl was on a cell phone, talking rapidly to someone who was obviously making her upset. She ended the conversation, motioning for the others to follow her back to the street.

I sat down, breathing a sigh of relief as a single thought ran through my mind.

_I have got to get out of that room._

_At the mansion, computer room_

"Hmm…" Zephyr leaned towards the computer to get a closer look.

"What?" Aare walked to stand behind him. Leaning over, he looked at the screen. "I don't see anything."

"I could've sworn there was demon signature there a second ago."

"Maybe it was just a glitch?"

Zeph shrugged. "Eh… don't know." They moved back to the table across the room, gadgets strewn about as they began to work on the man sized object.

They didn't see the red blip flicker on the screen before going off again.


End file.
